Lee Pinkas

A teacher for over a decade, Lee has worked with a range of students with unique needs and interests, as a private school teacher, full-subject homeschool instructor, and in-school learning support teacher. While she holds a B.S. from Cornell in Policy Analysis and Management, a major that prepared her for teaching A.P. US Government and Politics in New York's private schools, her deepest passion lies in customizing reading and writing curricula for students. Trained extensively in contemporary education, Lee holds an M.A. from Columbia’s Teachers College, as well as advanced certification in special education and an M.F.A. in poetry.

Lee has taught at the Bronx High School of Science, The University of Florida, LREI, and the oldest Quaker school in the country. Her teaching philosophy may be succinctly expressed by a phrase she often tells her students: you do you. Lee believes that students are most successful when they feel safe, supported, and self-confident.

She is committed to meeting students where they are, offering supports and scaffolds until they are ready to take full ownership of their work. In tutoring sessions, Lee specializes in helping students gain confidence in writing through mirrored instruction, outlining, and skill-based lessons, though she also builds in time for the occasional conversation about pop culture, sports, pets, current events, or school. In addition to writing instruction, Lee also supports students with reading skills, executive function, and math through geometry.

In her own time, Lee is a writer and poet, with works published in several magazines and journals. The proudest money she’s ever made was a twenty-dollar check from a literary magazine for a poem.